The Word: Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Friday, August 12, 2011
St. Jane Frances de Chantal





First Reading: Joshua 24:1-13

Second Reading: Psalm 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22 and 24



Gospel: Matthew 19:3-12

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”



A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Whoever can accept this teaching ought to do so.

Jesus didn't always, or even often, preach what was nice and easy. As Tina Turner would say, God's word is often "nice and rough." That is, some of the things He has to teach us we have a hard time accepting. We either do not listen or listen in such a way as we hear only what we want to hear.

This is true for each of us in different ways. Some find this teaching on divorce difficult; some find difficult His teaching on how to treat one's neighbor or who one's neighbor is. Each of us is wounded in a unique way and that will make certain teachings hard.

But nothing is too hard with God. God sends us this message over and over again. Jesus, who had a choice in the matter, was able to endure the hardest, most difficult death with God's help. And so it is true of these teachings that disturb us. If we are willing to accept the hard teaching, even if we cannot do so on our own, He will help us. No teaching is too hard, no command impossible, because He is there to help us every step of the way.






 

The Catholic Calendar
and Daily Meditation

 


Bkg. Courtesy of
Christian Backgrounds